The core lifts are the most important part of this program, and they should be treated with plenty of respect and understanding. You need to know your form on the lifts. You need to know why you chose the lifts. You need to understand which muscles are working during the lifts and why those muscles are working as well.

I commonly tell a client to perform a set of an exercise while signing the ABCs in their head. Then I tell them to perform another set while highly concentrating on the lift at hand. They report a big difference between the two sets, and I can see the difference as well. One set is simply going through the motions without respecting form or their functioning muscle groups. The other set is training!

Get to know your core lifts, and you will benefit!

The core lifts are going to be running on a schedule that will increase in load and decrease in reps throughout a 4 week period. Each week will have one thing in common though; the final set of the core lift will be a no holds barred type of set. This is a great way to incorporate a feeling of anxiousness and suspense into your daily workouts.

How many reps can you handle?

How hard can you push yourself?

Can you stay focused on form through a time of mental stress?

These are thoughts that many training programs don't encourage, which is a major disadvantage to you.

My rep and load schemes aren't designed to be a struggle to complete. They are designed to allow you to reach them at a medium/high level of struggle. I don't want all of your core working sets to drain you. I want you to feel good about them, reaching your goals for the day, being mentally satisfied, and then hitting that final set with everything you've got in the tank!

This will not only be good for your ego, but it will cut down on nervous system fatigue and overtraining syndrome. You might feel like you could go heavier sometimes with your initial core sets, but remember, you are on a schedule that is set up for long term progression. Trust in the schedule, destroy the final set, and know that you just put yourself one workout closer to your next goal!

Time to get down to the nitty gritty and get some numbers out in the open!

It is my philosophy that if you aren't using any set number goals in your program, you aren't maximizing your results. I'm not talking about just saying you want to bench 300. I'm talking about laying out a plan to get you there! This plan should be able to give you a timeline and you should know what you are going to be pushing during each workout on your road to that 300 pound bench. That is where using percentages of your 1 rep max comes in.

For those that don't know, a 1 rep max is the amount of weight that you can lift for 1 rep on any particular exercise. The 1 rep max can be estimated or determined through actual attempts in the gym.

Here is the method I'd like you to use when estimating your one rep max:

Step 1. Perform 3-10 warm up sets of your core lift to be estimated. These sets should gradually increase in weight until you begin to find it difficult to complete more than 4-6 reps.

Step 2. Once you reach that 4-6 rep weight point, take 3-4 minutes of rest.

Step 3. Complete one more set at the 4-6 rep weight. This set should be done to failure. Remember how many reps you were able to complete and how much weight was being used, as you will be using this number to estimate your 1RM.

Step 4. Use for following formula to estimate your 1RM:

1RM = ((Reps completed x 0.0333333) + 1)) x Weight used

Say you used 225lbs on your bench press and you completed 6 reps. You would determine your 1RM as follows:

Multiply 6 by 0.0333333, which equals 0.199

Add 1 to 0.199, which equals 1.199

Multiply 1.199 by 225, which equals 269.99

You can see that the 1RM is estimated to be 270 pounds. This is a simple formula, and if you have trouble with it, just ask someone to help you or you can personally contact me as well. My email is ryan@2020-wellness.com.

Alright, thats half the battle. The second half is using your 1RM to determine how much to lift with your core lifts each cycle.

I personally recommend using a 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% schedule if you are new(1-2 years of serious training) to training.

If you are have been training seriously for 2-8 years, you should use a 65%, 75%, 85%, and 90% schedule.

If you have been training for over 8 years, you should use a 70%, 80%, 90%, and 100% schedule.

Now, the AMRAP sets serve another purpose as well. You can use them to keep tabs on how your 1RM is progressing. If you really wanted to, you could estimate your 1RM each time you perform your core lift. However, if you do this, that does not mean that you adjust your 1RM each time you check it! You can check it, but do not change your 1RM in the middle of a cycle.

I personally recommend estimating your 1RM based on your 4th cycle only. This will give you the most accurate estimate, as the lower the rep number used in your estimate, the more accurate it will be.

OK, so you've completed your first 4 workouts with each core lift. Now what? How do you proceed? My next topic will cover just that.........

gotcha....so your last back workout you posted which was your core lift?

I knew I'd get questions on this, haha.

My warmups were the Lat Pulldowns. My core lift is my pullups. I am currently doing my pullups with every set being AMRAP based. I am doing this because I wanted to see how many pullups I could get up to with my bodyweight.

BUT, if I was following the schedule that I am for all my other core lifts, I would be taking my max pullup which is roughly 310lbs and using 85% of that, being 260lbs. I would be hitting that for 3 sets of 4 with my final set being AMRAP.

Normally I would be doing this, but like I said, I'm just walking off the beaten path a bit with my pullups for this macrocycle

My warmups were the Lat Pulldowns. My core lift is my pullups. I am currently doing my pullups with every set being AMRAP based. I am doing this because I wanted to see how many pullups I could get up to with my bodyweight.

BUT, if I was following the schedule that I am for all my other core lifts, I would be taking my max pullup which is roughly 310lbs and using 85% of that, being 260lbs. I would be hitting that for 3 sets of 4 with my final set being AMRAP.

Normally I would be doing this, but like I said, I'm just walking off the beaten path a bit with my pullups for this macrocycle

I am supposed to start cutting this week and go back to a basic split routine... but you're making me second guess it, hah.

This program is not strictly for bulking. There is no reason you can't make strength gains while cutting. Strength is very much about the nervous system. If you're cutting you're just not going to gain as much muscle as when bulking. But, the program can still be used

Just time your carbs around your workouts and keep it relatively low cal for the remainder of the time. You should be good to go!

I want to clear up some terminology before I get started with the next topic. I am going to use the terms microcycle and macrocycle in my future postings.

Microcycle will define the completion of your 4 workouts one time through. This will either take 7 or 8 days, depending on the schedule you choose.

Macrocycle will define the completion of 4 microcycles. This will take 28 or 32 days, depending on the schedule you choose.

As I left off before, what happens when you complete your first macrocycle?

Upon completing your first macrocycle, you are left with a few things. You have a feeling of strength and accomplishment. You also have all the information you need to make a prediction on your current and increased 1RM for each of your core lifts. These numbers are very important, as they predict the weights you will be using for your next macrocycle!

Everyone is going to gain strength at different paces, depending on their training experience. Typically, the more experience one has, the harder it will be for one to gain strength. This program takes that into account, and doesn't require that you automatically bump up your 1RMs by a set amount each time you complete a macrocycle. This is a great concept, and it makes the program much more personalized, which is one of my ultimate goals. I want this program to be useful for everyone, and it is!

Now that you've figured your 1RMs for each core lift, simply plug the new numbers into the percentage schedule you're using and you're on your way to another macrocycle! In terms of changing your core lifts, I feel that you should only change your core lift if you are getting bored, demotivated, or aren't gaining strength with your chosen core lift. You need to be mentally and physically in the game with these lifts! If you're not, move onto something that you can feel stronger with and better about.

Of course, at this time, you can change up some of your supplement lifts if you aren't feeling good about your current selections. If you like your current selections, then keep them around and continue to blast away with them! I personally recommend keeping the same supplement lifts for no more than 3 macrocycles.

The program is almost fully outlined, but I need to go over a few more things.

This program is not strictly for bulking. There is no reason you can't make strength gains while cutting. Strength is very much about the nervous system. If you're cutting you're just not going to gain as much muscle as when bulking. But, the program can still be used

Just time your carbs around your workouts and keep it relatively low cal for the remainder of the time. You should be good to go!

Hmm... I hadn't thought about it that way. I guess, to a certain extent, the "Thou shalt not think about gains on a cut" mantra is so ingrained I didn't even consider it...

I will be back once I've re-read it all. Thanks again.

Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.

"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level". ~Bruce Lee

do you need to know your 1rm for the supplement exercises as well or only the core exercises?

It is not necessary for you to know the 1RMs for your supplement lifts. With the supplement lifts, you take the approach of trying to hit your scheduled reps and sets without hitting failure on a regular basis. Every once in a while you will hit failure as you increase your weights, but you should see nice and steady strength gains due to the rotating rep/set schemes.

This means that your first two workouts(high rep and low rep) for each supplement lift is more about finding the right weights than anything. Once you've established those numbers, you just keep building and building on them.

Definitely hit em hard. I switched my core lift to front squats 3 weeks ago, and I'm not used to going this heavy with them. I had box squats as my core lift before, but traded the two up now because I am a fan of front squats.

Either way, when you do two types of squats in a row, it gets tough. You finish the first squat and can't even be excited because you know you have to go onto the next!

Gonna give your workout a go as trying to increase up my core lifts, and I like the ideas you have. Just been doing an FST-7 workout, and want to incorporate this into yours. What do you think about the final exercise being 7 sets with minimal rest in between? I think my body can take it.

Definitely hit em hard. I switched my core lift to front squats 3 weeks ago, and I'm not used to going this heavy with them. I had box squats as my core lift before, but traded the two up now because I am a fan of front squats.

Either way, when you do two types of squats in a row, it gets tough. You finish the first squat and can't even be excited because you know you have to go onto the next!

Gonna give your workout a go as trying to increase up my core lifts, and I like the ideas you have. Just been doing an FST-7 workout, and want to incorporate this into yours. What do you think about the final exercise being 7 sets with minimal rest in between? I think my body can take it.

Thanks for giving it a go! My question about your question is, why? What is your reasoning? I personally see it as a bit much considering each workout already has an all out set in it. If it is a Dorian style failure set you're talking about......I'd have to say no.

Thanks for giving it a go! My question about your question is, why? What is your reasoning? I personally see it as a bit much considering each workout already has an all out set in it. If it is a Dorian style failure set you're talking about......I'd have to say no.

It was so I could get a good pump and stretch my facia muscles. It's been working really well for me in the past couple of months. I suppose there's no reason why not to try both methods and see which works best for me.

It was so I could get a good pump and stretch my facia muscles. It's been working really well for me in the past couple of months. I suppose there's no reason why not to try both methods and see which works best for me.

Looking forward to my workout tomorrow, cheers.

Well, the pump is important for feeling, but thats really about it. I am not a believer that a pump is necessary for growth or progress. That being said, you'll still get a pump on this program. If multiple sets of anywhere from 8-20 reps doesn't give you a pump......I'm not sure what will!

If you wanna stretch the fascia, do some fascia stretching. In my opinion, it doesn't require a pump to stretch the fascia.

The more experienced and intensely you can lift, the less working sets you are going to be able to handle. Many people don't realize the amount that an experienced lifter can get out of a quality set. Beginners can't realize this until they make it to that level.

I want this program to incorporate as many strength improving methods as possible, without becoming a big pile of tips and tricks that don't mesh together. I don't want this program to be overkill in any aspect, as those programs that are fail miserably within a short time period. You get burned out when applying too much of one principle. My goal was to find the right balance of strength and size building principles, and I feel that I've done that.

To begin my workout, I like to do a low intensity walk on the treadmill for 5-10 minutes, followed by some explosive core lift priming. How do I do this?

Step 1: Find a movement that can be done in an explosive fashion that mimics your core lift.

Step 2: Perform that movement for 2 to 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps with your bodyweight only.

These movements will mimic your core lifts and will really improve your power and speed with your core movement. Nobody wants to train to be slower, so you better be doing some ultra fast version of your big lifts at some time or another! These lifts will benefit you in multiple ways, they are quick and simple, and they are fun to do as well.

Incorporate these movements by performing them with your core lift warmups after your 5-10 minute low intensity cardio warm up. This is how I want you to use them:

Step 1: Get to your lifting area and load up your first warmup weight for your core lift.

Step 2: Perform your first warm up set.

Step 3: Perform your first set of the explosive movement for 6-8 reps.

Step 4: Perform your second warmup set.

Step 5: Perform your second set of the exploxive movement for 6-8 reps.

Step 6: Perform your third warmup set.

Step 7: Perform your third, and last set of the explosive movement for 6-8 reps.

Step 8: Perform your fourth warmup set if necessary. If four warmup sets are not necessary, perform your first working set.

Step 9: Perform your second working set.

Step 10: Perform your third working set, which is your AMRAP set.

If you find that performing 3 sets of your explosive movement gets to be too demanding, simply drop the reps for each set or drop the third set of the explosive movement entirely.

Remember, the rules of this program are not set in stone. They are encouraged to be followed, but it is impossible to make a program suitable for everyone on their first program attempt. People have to make personal changes, they just need to make sure they don't deviate from the goals and concepts of the program itself.

I'm off for the night, but I encourage questions, as I'll get them answered ASAP!

It was a good time. I ate a ton of great food. Overall just enjoyed myself and relaxed. Word has it I will be back again in March. Getting back into the swing of things here. I still need to swing by your place one of these days to check out the gym and the boy.

"Obstacles are those frightening things that become visible when we take our eyes off our goals." - Henry Ford

It was a good time. I ate a ton of great food. Overall just enjoyed myself and relaxed. Word has it I will be back again in March. Getting back into the swing of things here. I still need to swing by your place one of these days to check out the gym and the boy.